Lafcadio Hearn on KWAIDAN

In the nineteenth century, writer Lafcadio Hearn played a crucial role in popularizing Japanese folklore for Western audiences. Four of his stories provided the basis for Masaki Kobayashi’s KWAIDAN. In this piece, made in 2015, English literature scholar Christopher Benfey, editor of “Lafcadio Hearn: American Writings,” profiles Hearn.